10 Fun Facts About Chocolate You Never Knew!

by Stefania PedeApril 17, 2020

So...you're curious to learn more about the wonderful world of chocolate! Well, we're happy to tell you that you've come to the right place! We put this awesome list of chocolate fun facts together for curious minds - just like you.

1. Chocolate is a fruit! ... well, not really... but it makes us feel better about eating it when we think of it as part of vital food group. Theobroma is the name of the tree that produces chocolate. The pods that grow on this tree are the "fruit" we were just talking about. Talented farmers then harvest this fruit, remove the beans and ferment them before roasting and grinding the nibs into what we know to be chocolate!

2. It takes approximately 400 beans to make 1lb (or 454g) of chocolate! Considering that the average cocoa pod contains 40 beans - that's quite a lot of beans to harvest and collect to make our beloved sweet treat.

3. The average Theobroma Cacao tree produces 2500 beans each season. If we do some math... that's about 6.25lbs (or 2838g) or chocolate ... or 33 of our big chocolate bars!

4. Farmers have to wait 4-5 years before the Theobroma Cacao tree is mature enough to yield fruit (aka chocolate). We can definitely agree that it's worth the wait and couldn't thank these farmers enough for the hard work they do.

5. The first chocolate treat was hot cocoa! This form of chocolate was first only enjoyed by royalty before the invention of the conching machine, candy bars, solid chocolate and mechanization as we know it today.

6. 70% of the world's chocolate supply comes from West Africa (Ivory Coast). Beans grown in this region have a more muted flavour profile which makes them perfect for coating commercial candy bars.

7. The first "candy" chocolate bar was invented in 1847 by Joseph Fry and his son in Britain. Since then, the world has seen the chocolate industry blossom with endless chocolate possibilities - from bonbons to bars and confections - there's something for everyone.

9. The Mayans and Aztecs used cacao beans as currency in a barter system for food and clothing in 1900 B.C.

10.Chocolate = Happiness! Not only does it taste great but chocolate also makes you happy because it releases endorphins when you eat it. Amino acids in chocolate are linked to producing seratonin in your brain (the neurotransmitter) responsible for producing the feeling of happiness.

That's it for now, so we hope you enjoyed these 10 Fun Facts! If you did, we would love for you to leave a comment below and share your thoughts or share the post on social media. Tag us @cocoa40inc so we see it!